


Animals

by quiet__tiger



Category: DCU (Comics), Outsiders (Comics)
Genre: M/M, class field trip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 02:23:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10630182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: The field trip to the zoo was fun. Until they lost a kid.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [Family.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10630134)
> 
> Trigger warning: This fic is about a real-life fear.
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal Aug. 23rd, 2008.

Roy leaned into Dick so he wouldn’t be overheard. “I don’t care how lewdly you eat that ice cream, Grayson, I’m not blowing you behind Arctic World.”

Dick turned his head to whisper back. “I was actually hoping for behind the gift shop.”

“You’re sick.”

“Is that news?”

Roy just shook his head in exasperation, and walked closer to Lian, who had ice cream all over her. “You want a napkin?” She shook her head. Roy hadn’t been expecting her to say yes. But he did give her one, and collected Danny, Madison, and Cody to give them napkins, too.

Roy didn’t think they were really allowed to buy the kids treats, but _he_ wanted ice cream, so he got some for everybody. Including Dick, who was using it to tease him mercilessly. Roy would just have to tease him later to make up for it.

“All right, guys, what do you want to see next?”

“Monkeys!”

“Seals!”

“Elephants!” That was Madison, who was immediately shut down by Lian pointing out that they’d already been there. Madison pouted, and Roy frantically thought about how to appease everyone.

Then Dick stepped in. “Danny, what about you? You haven’t made a request yet.” Roy watched as the kid’s soulful brown eyes widened. The boy hadn’t said more than three words all day, one of which was “Thanks” when Roy handed him his sack lunch, and another one was “Chocolate” when Roy asked him what flavor ice cream he wanted. He couldn’t remember if the kid answered “Yes” or just nodded his head when asked earlier if he had to use the bathroom. Dick tried again. “Hmm?”

“C-c-can we go to the House of Darkness?”

Roy thought he heard Dick stifle a groan, but all he heard him say was, “Sure!” He looked over at him and kind of shrugged. “It’ll be cool to see the bats and everything.”

Roy smirked. “Lead on.”

Madison did groan, but she and the other kids followed dutifully. Dick came up next to Roy and whispered, “Cool like a hole in the head.”

“Shh, not everyone grew up with bats in their belfry. I mean, basement.” Dick gave him a shove but grinned.

They found the House of Darkness with the help of a crumpled map Dick pulled from his pocket, and carefully made their way inside the rather gothic-looking building. It was dark so that the nocturnal creatures would be awake, and even Roy found it spooky, the squeaking of many of the animals not helping.

Going into parent mode, Roy ordered, “Everyone, hold hands. It’s dark and I don’t want anyone getting hurt or lost.” The little boys and girls made faces at each other. Roy sighed. “Okay, buddy system. Lian and Madison, Danny and Cody.”

That accomplished, at least, Roy felt Dick’s hand clasp his. “Will you be my buddy?”

“You’re such a dork.”

“Blow me.”

“Not in Artic World, not behind the gift shop, and not in the House of Darkness.”

“No one will see.”

Roy rolled his eyes, not sure if Dick could see him well enough. “We can’t be partners anyway. The kids are going to want to split up. You go with the boys, and I’ll go with the girls.”

“Fine.” Dick squeezed his hand then pulled it away, but then ducked back in close to whisper, “But you’ll blow me later, right?” And he did something lewd to Roy’s ear with his tongue, and Roy was _so_ going to inflict major pain on him later.

“Dick!” Dick chuckled and led the boys away, and Roy looked down at Lian and Madison. “So. Let’s see what’s living here in the dark.”

Madison stuck her tongue out, and Roy wished she were his kid so he could teach her some manners. Little brat. Lian, though, his little angel, obediently pulled Madison deeper into the building.

They wound up in front of the naked mole rat enclosure, and Roy wasn’t too thrilled at the glee he saw on his little angel’s face. He did _not_ want hairless rats in his home. Madison pulled Lian away, thank God, but then they wound up looking at scorpions. Roy hoped Madison’s fascination was because the creatures glowed, and not anything else. But hey, if the spoiled little girl convinced her parents to get her a pet scorpion, they deserved whatever happened.

They made it to the end of the building, and waited outside in the beautiful afternoon sunlight for Dick and the boys. Roy heard Dick before he saw him, talking about bats. Of course. Like deranged guardian, like deranged ward/adopted son. Dick and Cody emerged from the darkness, sun shining in Dick’s eyes, lighting them up even more as he smiled. “They have lots of bats. Some I’ve seen...before... and others I haven’t. _Big_ ones.”

Roy did a quick head count. “Where’s Danny?”

Dick stopped in his tracks. “Shit.”

Cody gasped and pointed. “You said a bad word!”

Dick turned on his heel and went back inside, yelling, “Danny!”

Roy asked Cody, “Where’s Danny?”

“He wanted to look at the stupid sloth. It doesn’t even move!”

“What about the buddy system?”

He all but shrieked, “I wanted to look at the bats!!”

Did seven-year-olds take naps? Could Roy give them incapacitating nerve pinches? “Okay, okay. Hopefully he’s just stuck inside. Dick will find him.”

He better.

~*~

Dick wasn’t panicking. Not yet. He wasn’t allowed to start until he confirmed that Danny wasn’t in the House of Darkness.

After annoying two thirds of the people in the building and scaring the rest, Dick emerged from the far side of the exhibit, no shy little boy in sight.

_Think. Think. What would Bruce do?_

Bruce wouldn’t be at the zoo.

Bruce wouldn’t lose sight of a kid he was supposed to be watching.

Bruce wouldn’t...

_What would Roy do?_

He’d put himself in the kid’s shoes. Danny was shy. If he’d wandered off, he probably wouldn’t have wandered far. If he’d been taken, he probably wouldn’t have protested loudly.

He’d look. What was Danny wearing? Blue shirt and jeans. Some cartoon character was on the shirt. Not a cartoon Lian watched.

No little boy with brown hair and a blue shirt was visible anywhere nearby.

He’d listen. Dick closed his eyes and forced out the droning of the people around him and the air conditioner unit outside the House of Darkness. He couldn’t hear anything that sounded suspicious.

_If I were going to take a kid, how would I do it?_

He’d pick a kid early on, observe whoever he was with, and wait for a chance to get him away from his guardians.

Like when they brought him into the dark and left him alone.

“Shit!”

Dick fidgeted, not sure of where to look. But he’d only left Danny alone for a couple minutes, and anyone taking him would have realized he was with a school group, so he couldn’t just carry him through the zoo and risk someone recognizing him. So another way...

He looked around again, and realized there was a maintenance path parallel to the one he was standing on, separated by a waist-high wooden fence and tall bushes. Dick headed off the path and hopped the fence, moving towards the back of the House of Darkness, where the exterior air conditioner unit was located and chugging away. If he were going to do something to a kid, he’d go where no one would hear anything.

He knew he was right when he saw a crumpled napkin with spatters of chocolate ice cream on it littering the path he was following.

He went into a jog, until he heard a timid little voice cry out, “N-n-no!” Then he sprinted around the unit and prayed that he could tackle the kidnapper without hurting the kid.

He was lucky; the perv was standing a foot away from Danny and was only touching the boy’s shoulder. Dick bent his head and rammed the perv hard in the upper arm with his shoulder, knocking him flying. They hit the ground hard, and Dick rolled them so that the perv was on his back with Dick straddling his waist. “You. Don’t. Touch. Kids!” Each word was punctuated with a punch to the face, and then Dick grabbed the perv’s hair and slammed the back of his head into the ground.

Chest heaving from the exertion, Dick finally turned to Danny, who stood there with his mouth open and his eyes large and wet. “You okay, Danny?” The kid nodded fiercely. “Good.” The kid finally blinked, and tears dripped down his cheeks. “Hey... Give me a second.”

Dick climbed off the perv, debated kicking him, but settled for tying the man’s hands with his shoelaces. Then he turned back to Danny, and scooped him into a hug. “You’re okay.” The kid cried into his shoulder.

Dick’s phone rang, and it was Roy’s ringtone, so he careful picked it from his pocket while holding Danny with his other hand. “Yeah, we’re okay. I got him. Behind the House of Darkness.”

A minute later Roy and the other kids appeared, Roy looking like something was eating his intestines, but upon seeing Dick and Danny safe, the tension went out of his body. “Thank God. Danny, are you okay?”

Dick felt Danny nod, and shrugged his shoulder so the kid would look up. He did, and turned to Roy. “I-I-I’m okay.” He squirmed, and Dick set him down on his feet.

Roy knelt down to the kid’s level and asked, “What happened?”

“I-I-I went to look at the s-s-sloth and some g-g-uy,” his eyes flicked to the unconscious perv, “g-g-grabbed me. I thought it was D-d-ick, so I didn’t say anything. A-a-and then...” His eyes got teary again. “H-h-he brought me back here, said he was gonna s-s-how me something, but I-I-I knew it wouldn’t be something g-g-good because why would he t-t-take me here? A-a-and he t-t-touched me--”

Roy sucked in a breath. “Where?”

“O-o-n my hair and s-s-shoulder.” Roy exhaled and almost fell over with the relief. “But then Dick... Dick flew in and knocked him down and beat him up!” The kid broke into a smile of awe. “It was so cool!”

Trying to joke and lighten the mood, Dick said, “I am pretty cool.”

Danny, still grinning, just said, “Yeah!”

Roy looked up at Dick, face serious and knowing. “You are.” He stood again, and told Danny, “I’m glad you’re okay. But you can’t wander off. Something bad might have happened to you if Dick hadn’t found you.” Danny’s smile faded, and he nodded. “We’ve got to call the cops, Dick.”

“Yeah. You want to find a manager or something? Let them know what’s up? I’ll stay here and make sure he doesn’t get away.”

“Good plan.”

Roy took the kids, and Dick stayed with the perv. He crouched over him, mentally cataloguing every feature, including the scar he’d probably have on his split lip from Dick’s fist. The man was coming to a little bit, and Dick put on his best predatory face. He hissed, “You’re lucky it’s not dark and we’re not alone. You wouldn’t be able to walk or piss properly ever again.”

The man nodded once in acknowledgment, then went out again.

~*~

Later that night, Roy and Dick were sitting on the couch in the living room, Lian between them. They’d been watching one of her movies, but she’d fallen asleep, finally worn out after all the excitement at the zoo. Roy watched her sleep, glad that everyone was safe and sound, the three of them and all the other kids in her class.

The day could have ended disastrously.

But the pervert was in jail, and Roy and Dick had given statements after getting in touch with Lian’s teacher and dividing the kids up with other groups for the rest of the day. Danny stayed with Dick, apparently afraid to get too far from him or Roy. He’d gotten quiet again when the cops questioned him, but somehow Dick was able to get him to open up to the officers even when his parents, who’d been called and who arrived angry and scared, couldn’t.

Somehow Dick was incredible with kids. Roy was jealous. But he thought he was doing okay with Lian.

He realized Dick, head resting against the back of the couch, was practically asleep as well, understandably since he’d been up since the day before and had a surprisingly stressful day today. “We should go to bed.”

Eyes still closed, Dick answered, “Don’t wanna.” More articulately, he continued, “Don’t want to move.” A hand reached out and patted Lian’s leg.

“I know what you mean.” Roy also wanted to revel in his little family, his little girl and his hot/smart/sweet/amazing boyfriend. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Realizing that something from earlier was unresolved, Roy offered, “We can put Lian to bed. And then I can blow you. And vice versa.”

One blue eye cracked open to look at him. “Rain check? I’m fine right here.”

“Sure.” A minute passed, and Roy propositioned, “We can at least put her to bed with us.”

“I’m good.”

Bruce probably made his boys learn how to sleep everywhere and anywhere whenever. But if Dick could, then so could Roy. He certainly wasn’t leaving him or Lian. Resigning himself to torturous neck pain, Roy settled himself to try to sleep, listening to Dick breathe and feeling Lian twitch as she dreamed.

Uncomfortable position maybe, but he’d take it over just about any alternative, just enjoying the company.


End file.
